The move by bishops in the United States to bar President Joe Biden from communion risks making US Catholicism “look like a sect”. The warning came in a Religion Media Centre briefing on the decision by US bishops to draft a document on the eucharist, which is expected to admonish Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. Speakers said the move was evidence of “sectarian” thinking inside the Catholic Church, like “a Protestant sect with Catholic sauce on top of it”. With guests:
- Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent for The Tablet
- Steve Schneck, executive director of Franciscan Action Network, Washington DC
- Dr Kurt Martens, ordinary professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC and editor of The Jurist
- Dr Massimo Faggioli, professor of historical theology, Villanova University and author of Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States
- Professor Susannah Cornwall, Exeter University, and director of the Exeter Centre for Ethics and Practical Theology
- Matthew Bunson, executive editor and Washington bureau chief for EWTN News
To join RMC briefings email [email protected]
Report: Bishops cannot judge Biden, says church lawyer. Only the Pope can do that
“As a consultant to the bishops conference, and as someone with european roots, this is a typical US debate. Leave it to individual debate, don’t make any official statements whatsoever – dialogue is always the best way”
– Dr Kurt Martens
FULL BRIEFING YOUTUBE VIDEO
The Religion Media Centre live-tweets all of our briefings, you can find the entire thread on our Twitter feed @relmedcentre
